Clean rapid fill water tank cap and air relief

ABSTRACT

A dome cover for an underground water tank pipe has two openings. The first opening has an elbow-shaped pipe with a camlock fitting that allows a large water truck hose to be camlocked onto the pipe. The second opening has a filtered air relief pipe that allows air to escape during filling of the tank and filters out debris and insects.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Not Applicable. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable. THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to storage tanks and particularly to a cap for an underground water tank which allows water to be delivered rapidly and prevents debris from entering the tank wherein the cap comprises a cover that fits over the exposed top pipe of the underground tank, a ninety degree water inlet pipe located in the top of the cover to which the water truck delivery hose is camlocked, an air relief hole also located in the top of the cover, and a filter covering the air relief hole.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Homes and resorts located in/near arid regions or deserts or near seashores often suffer from a shortage of clean drinking water due to minimal seasonal rainfall and brackish underground water. The transport of freshwater for distribution in these areas often exposes the water to contamination during the hook up of the water truck hose. Furthermore, gravity fill hoses with no pressure take 30 minutes to fill a 1700 gallon tank. None of the prior art adequately addresses these problems.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,009, issued Oct. 25, 1994 to Cambell, is for a liquid storage vessel venting system. A check valve assembly is provided for a liquid storage vessel, such as a tank. The system includes a housing for mounting to the tank. A fluid outlet and an air inlet are provided in the housing. An inlet check valve and an outlet check valve are provided on the housing for selectively venting the tank. An air filter is mounted over the air inlet to remove airborne contaminants. The check valve assembly may include a pressure gauge, a nitrogen source inlet, and an emergency relief valve.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,662, issued Sep. 14, 1999 to Scott, provides a supplemental water system for a building structure, which includes a tank for storage of supplemental water and a conduit from the tank to at least one user outlet device within the building structure. The outlet conduit and user outlet device are separate from the conventional tap water system within the building structure.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,043, issued Aug. 31, 1993 to Campbell, shows a system for the delivery and storage of bulk quantities of high quality water. The system includes a tank truck having air filters to preclude the entry of noxious materials into the bulk water hauling tanks. A delivery valve and a receiving valve are provided for the substantially air-free transfer of water from the bulk water hauling tank to a storage tank from which water can be supplied to the user. Water storage systems are provided including check valves to protect the quality of the water and the amount of residual water remaining in the storage tank. A pressurized water storage system is provided using a harmless gas and a floating check valve to contain the gas as water is drained from the storage system.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,242, issued Jun. 19, 2001 to Martin, claims a system for bulk delivery of potable spring water to a customer's home. This system includes a bulk water supply truck equipped with a pumping system and an onboard ozone generator for delivery of potable tank water to a customer's supply tank. The supply tank is not pressurized, but uses an electric pump to deliver potable water to the individual faucets in the customer's home.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,139, issued Sep. 8, 1998 to Kennedy, describes a pressurized ozone disinfected water delivery system including a multiplicity of water dispensing systems, each including a water storage reservoir, a feed line, and a faucet, and a mobile, re-supply truck. The truck includes a water tank, a water pump, and an ozone generator. Water dispensing systems are installed at remote, on-site locations, such as for example residential homes and offices, and re-supply truck services the dispensing systems by delivering water from a water source to each system. Each dispensing system, including its storage reservoir is a closed, high pressure system, preferably at approximately 15 PSI, so that power necessary to delivery water, on demand, from a storage tank to a faucet is provided by the system pressure.

What is needed is a cap for covering an underground water tank pipe that protects the water tank from debris and insects while still allowing rapid fill of the tank from a water tank truck.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a cap for covering an underground water tank pipe that protects the water tank from debris and insects while still allowing rapid fill of the tank from a water tank truck.

Another object of the present invention is to enable rapid filling of an underground water tank by providing a camlock fitting to receive a large two inch diameter fire truck-type hose camlocked onto the water tank pipe.

An additional object of the present invention is to enable filling a 1700 gallon tank in 10 minutes by providing an air relief opening to allow air to escape while filling from a high-pressure hose.

In brief, a dome cover for an underground water tank pipe has two openings. The first opening has an attached elbow-shaped fill pipe with a camlock fitting that allows a large pressurized water truck hose to be camlocked onto the pipe. The pipe has a removable plug to cover the fill opening when not in use. The second opening has a filtered air relief pipe that allows air to escape during filling of the tank, while filtering out debris and insects.

The purpose of the device is to provide for rapid filling of an underground water tank while protecting the tank from debris and insects.

An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a cap for an underground water tank pipe.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it allows for the rapid filling of an underground water tank.

One more advantage of the present invention is that it protects the tank from the entry of debris and insects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other details of my invention will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in which drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view in partial section of the clean and rapid fill cap with a filter covered air relief pipe of the present invention mounted to an underground water tank;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the clean and rapid fill cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the present invention of FIG. 1 aligned for assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIGS. 1-3, a fill cap device 20 for underground water storage tanks comprises a rigid dome-shaped cap 22 that has a water fill opening 16 and an air relief opening 15, as shown in FIG. 3.

The dome cap 22 attaches to the section of pipe 21 that protrudes above ground 40 from the underground water tank 30. A 90-degree elbow water fill pipe 23 attaches by means of a threaded flange 19 to the water fill opening 16. A removable plug 25 is secured to the water fill pipe 23 by means of a chain 12, thereby preventing it from falling to the ground 40. A water fill camlock connector 24 with two rings 17 is attached to the water fill pipe 23, and camlocks a two inch diameter hose 50 from a water truck securely onto the water fill pipe 23.

A vented filter 27 mounted on a threaded pipe 14 over the air relief opening 15 by means of a threaded flange 18 allows passage of air out of the water tank 30 during filling under pressure and prevents foreign matter from entering the water tank so that the pressure filling of the water tank proceeds unimpeded.

In use, the plug 25 is removed from the water fill camlock connector 24 and a water hose 50 is attached and locked on with the camlock rings 17. While the water 31 is rapidly pressure fed into the underground tank 30, the air relief opening 15 releases all of the air through the vented filter to allow maximum pressure during the fill operation. When not in use for filling the plug is re-inserted in the camlock connection.

It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by way of illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed. 

1. A fill cap device for underground water storage tanks, the device comprising: a rigid dome cap attached to the top of an underground water storage tank pipe with a portion of the pipe protruding above ground, the dome cap having two openings in a top surface thereof, a water fill opening to receive water to fill the tank and an air relief opening to allow air to escape the tank while filling the tank with water for rapid filling; a water fill pipe elbow extending from one of the two openings and a camlock connector to receive a high pressure water hose from a water tank fill truck, the camlock connector protruding horizontally from the water fill pipe elbow, and a removable plug to seal the camlock connector when not in use; a vented filter mounted over the air relief opening to allow passage of air out of the tank during filling under pressure while preventing foreign matter from entering the water tank so that the pressure filling of the water tank proceeds unimpeded.
 2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a chain to connect between the removable plug and the camlock connector to prevent the plug from falling on the ground. 